Courtesy: Zack Ponce
This week: The New Mexico State baseball team (11-8) has four games this week with one in Albuquerque against Rio Grande Rival UNM, Tuesday, March 12 at 6pm (MT). NM State then returns home for a three-game series against Southeast Missouri State starting Friday, March 16 at 6pm. The Aggies then take on Redhawks in a doubleheader, Saturday, March 17 at 7pm.
Media Coverage: The game versus UNM, Tuesday, March 13 is scheduled to air on the radio in Las Cruces on KSNM AM 570. The first two games in the SE Missouri State series are also scheduled to air over the radio waves with Jeff Matthews giving the play-by-play action. Fans can listen to Matthews give the action from anywhere in the world for a fee by going to the official website of NM State Athletics and clicking on the live events link.
Live stats are available all season long by going to www.NMStateSports.com and clicking on the live events tab. Live stats are free of charge all season.
Social Media: Fans can keep up with score updates and other information by logging on to Twitter@NMStateAggies. Fans can find out about promotions and everything else Aggie by going on Facebook @NMSU Athletics.
Tickets: Fans can call the Pan American Center ticket office or call (575) 646-1420 to purchase tickets ahead of time or walk up to the ticket booth at Presley Askew Field to buy tickets the day of the game. Season tickets for baseball are $49 for adults, $44 for NM State faculty and staff and $44 for senior citizens. Single game tickets cost $6 for adults and $4 per ticket with groups of ten or more. Children 12-and-under can enter the games for free, while NM State students also get in free.
Promotions: Friday night at Presley Askew Field is "Local Heroes Night" with all active and retired military and first responders getting into the game for a discounted price. Saturday's doubleheader will be a St. Patrick's Day Celebrations. Wear green to the games and have a chance to win great prizes throughout the day.
ABOUT THE AGGIES: The Aggies head into week five of play with an 11-8 record on the year after splitting a four-game series with 2011 NCAA Tournament participant Kent State. The Aggies are 5-5 in their last ten games and are hitting .307 as a team this year. NM State was the 2011 NCAA batting average champion when it posted a .337 average.
NM State is 10-3 when playing in Las Cruces and 1-3 on an opponent's field. The Aggies hit .342 at Presley Askew Field and only .218 on opposing team's turf. The Aggies lead the nation in runs scored, walks and RBI and are in the top five nationally in hits, doubles and total bases.
The Aggies hit .339 as a team in five games last week with senior Bryan Karraker leading the way going 9-of-20 at the dish in five starts. Ethan Chavez with 2-for-2 with three runs scored as he played in all five games last week off the bench.
THIS WEEK'S OPPONENTS
New Mexico: The Aggies defeated the Lobos in their first meeting 16-12 in Las Cruces. NM State holds an all-time record of 78-140 against UNM. The first meeting between the Aggies and Lobos was in 1962 and the Aggies lost 13-8. NM State is 19-22 against the Lobos since 2002, including three straight wins over UNM. Aggie head coach Rocky Ward is 23-30 all-time when coaching against the Lobos. The Aggies have a one-game lead over the Lobos, 7-6, since Ray Birmingham became the UNM head coach in 2008.
The Lobos enter Tuesday's game fresh off a three-game sweep of No. 22 Gonzaga at Isotopes Park. UNM holds a 5-9 overall record and a 4-5 home record. UNM opened the season against WAC opponent Nevada and went 1-2 in Albuquerque. The Lobos also went 1-3 against future WAC foe, UT-San Antonio. That series was played in San Antonio. UNM is coached by Ray Birmingham who is in his fifth year with the team. He previously coached New Mexico Junior College and has a career record of 950-437-2. UNM went 20-41 last year but swept through the Mountain West Conference Tournament, winning the tournament title and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Lobos were eliminated in the tournament after losing back-to-back games against Arizona State and Arkansas.
Southeast Missouri State: The Aggies will return home after a game at UNM to host Southeast Missouri State for a three-game series over Friday (March 16) and Saturday (March 17). NM State currently holds an 11-8 record, 10-3 at home.
This will be this first meeting between the two baseball programs.
The Southeast Missouri State Redhawks are located in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Redhawks finished second in the Ohio Valley Conference in 2011. Alum Mark Hogan is in his 18th season as the head coach for the Redhawks, and has a 503-420-1 record with the team. Southeast Missouri State plays a two-game series against Arkansas-Little Rock on Tuesday (March 13) and Wednesday (March 14) before traveling to Las Cruces. The Redhawks currently have a 6-10 record, 1-5 on the road and place seventh in the OVC.
AGGIE SPOTLIGHT
Outfielder Bryan Karraker: Senior outfielder Bryan Karraker posted a .450 batting average last week as NM State defeated in-state rival UNM and split a four-game series with 2011 NCAA Tournament participant Kent State. Karraker posted nine hits and also got on with three walks and by being hit by a pitch three times for a .577 on-base percentage. He had a stellar performance against the Lobos going 2-of-3 at the dish with three RBI to boost NM State to a 16-12 win. He had a 3-of-6 showing at the plate in a 12-6 win over Kent State with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored. He finished the week with a .600 slugging percentage and seven RBI. Karraker picked up a hit in each game last week and has now reached base safely in 11 straight games.
RHP Michael Ormseth: Junior right-hander and Las Cruces native made two appearances and picked up two wins and is now 5-0 on the year. In 12.2 innings of work last week, Ormseth faced a total of 60 batters and allowed only two walks and 10 runs. His five wins is the most in the WAC and his 31.2 innings pitched also leads the league. Ormseth threw six innings against Rio Grande Rival UNM on March 6 to lead the Aggies to a 16-12 win. He came back to throw 6.2 innings on Sunday against Kent state and allowed only three runs and two walks as he faced 31 batters.
RHP Adam Mott: Junior transfer pitcher Adam Mott is 2-0 on the year with a 5.68 ERA and 21 strikeouts after 19 innings of work. Mott faced Kent State, Sunday, March 11 and earned his second victory of the year after throwing for six complete innings. He tallied six strikeouts and gave up only three runs. Adam has a twin brother, Evan, who is also a pitcher on the Aggie squad.
Streaks: There have been 11 different players with hitting streaks of three games or more this year. Parker Hipp has had the longest of the year with nine and is currently on a four-game hitting streak.
Zac Fisher is currently on a seven-game hitting streak and Bryan Karraker is on a five-game hitting streak.
In addition to holding the team's longest hitting streak, Parker Hipp has gotten on base safely in all of this season's games (19). With that streak carrying over from last season, he has now reached base safely in 23 consecutive games.
A Look Back: March 6-11: NM State hosted in-state rival UNM on Tuesday, March 6. The Aggies defeated the Lobos in their first meeting of the year 16-12. Aggie starter Michael Ormseth gave up six runs in the first two innings, but rallied to get the victory while striking out four batters in six innings. The win was NM State's third in a row against UNM dating back to last year.
The Aggies faced Kent State to finish the week. NM State lost the first two games of the series, 7-4 on Friday and 10-9 on Saturday. Ryan Beck struck out eight in six innings and gave up three earned runs in a losing effort on Friday. The Aggies scored four runs in the seventh and eighth innings of Saturday's game to pull within a run of the Golden Flashes. However NM State could not complete the comeback as Kent State retired the Aggie batters in order to end the game.
Saturday night's game was cancelled due to inclement weather. The game was rescheduled in the form of a Sunday doubleheader. NM State bounced back from a rough series start to win both games of Sunday's doubleheader, and split the series 2-2 with Kent State.
Michael Ormseth started the afternoon game for the Aggies and helped lead them to a 12-6 victory. Ormseth pitched 6 2/3 innings, striking out two batters and allowing three runs. Ormseth improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season. Bryan Karraker and Zach Voight both had multiple RBI.
The Aggie bats continued to warm up during the evening game. Robert Lecount went 3-4 at the plate and hit two home runs and drove in five runs. Zac Fisher was 4-5 at bat and drove in six RBI. Fisher also homered. Five Aggies had multiple hits against Kent State on Sunday evening. Adam Mott started the game for NM State. Mott stuck out six batters in six innings and gave up three runs. Evan Mott and Robert Roher made relief appearances, combining for three strikeouts on two innings pitched.
Looking Ahead: March 20-25: The Aggies will travel to Tucson, Ariz. for a mid-week series against the nationally ranked Arizona Wildcats. NM State and Arizona will play on Tuesday, March 20 at 5 p.m. and Wednesday, March 21 at 3 p.m. Both games are scheduled to be broadcast on KSNM AM 570. The radio broadcast can be heard live on the Internet or on tape delay at 6 pm for both games.
NM State will host UT-Pan American in a four-game series over the weekend. There will be one game on Friday, March 23 at 6:05 p.m., a Saturday, March 24 doubleheader at 3:05 and 7:05 p.m., and an afternoon game on Sunday, March 25 at 1:05 p.m. Friday and Sunday's games are scheduled to be broadcast on the radio over KSNM AM 570 live by Jeff Matthews.
